Yeghegis (Armenian: Եղեգիս) is a village in the Yeghegis Municipality of the Vayots Dzor Province in Armenia. It has a rich historical past, with the medieval Zorats Church, the Tsakhats Kar Monastery and the Smbataberd fortress being located in the vicinity of Yeghegis, as well as a Jewish cemetery from the 13th century.[2]

Yeghegis Եղեգիս
Yeghegis Show map of Armenia Yeghegis Show map of Vayots Dzor
Coordinates: 39°52′20″N 45°21′35″E
Country	Armenia
Province	Vayots Dzor
Municipality	Yeghegis
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	369
Time zone	UTC+4 (AMT)
Yeghegis at GEOnet Names Server

Toponymy

The name Yeghegis originated from the Armenian word yeghegn which means reed.[3] The village was also previously known as Alagyaz and Erdapin.

History

Yeghegis was a prominent economic and political centre during the Middle Ages, being the seat of the Orbelian Dynasty in the 13th and 14th centuries, which ruled most of Zangezur. However, after the incursion of the armies of Timur, as well as Turkmen and Persian forces, Orbelian rule ended by the 15th century. After numerous earthquakes ruined Yeghegis and with the local Armenian population being forcibly exiled into Persia, the village was abandoned. Later the village was populated by Turkish-speaking residents. Following the Sumgait pogrom in 1988, Armenian refugees deported from Azerbaijan settled in the village.[4]

Refugees from Sumgait settled in the village in 1988.[5]

Zorats Church

Zorats Church (Armenian: Զորաց եկեղեցի, romanized: Zorats Yekeghetsi, lit. 'Soldier Church') is a unique Armenian church on a hill close to Yeghegis. It was dedicated in 1303 by archbishop Stepanos, during a period in which Armenia was a Mongol vassal state. The church was designed so that cavalry could receive the sacraments without getting off their horses.[5]

Jewish cemetery

There is a Jewish cemetery in Yeghegis that dates from the period between the 13th and 14th centuries, with the oldest tombstone in the cemetery having been dated to be from 1266 AD and the most recent one having been dated to be from 1346 AD. The Jewish community living in Yeghegis likely had an Iranian origin.[2][5]

Gallery

• 
  Scenery
• 
  Jewish cemetery in Yeghegis
• 
  Jewish cemetery in Yeghegis
• 
  St. Nshan Church
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  Tsaghats Kar Monastery
• 
  Yeghegis old cemetery
• 
  St. Astvatsatsin Chapel (built in 1703)
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  Smbataberd
• 
  Hermon Monastery

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yeghegis.

• Report of the results of the 2001 Armenian Census, Statistical Committee of Armenia
• Brady Kiesling, Rediscovering Armenia, p. 123; original archived at Archive.org, and current version online on Armeniapedia.org.

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[ru] Ехегис